Impatiens walleriana cultivar Balolecher.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Double Impatiens plant, botanically known as Impatiens walleriana, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Balolecherxe2x80x99.
The new Impatiens is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Elburn, Ill. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new compact Double Impatiens cultivars with fully double flowers, freely branching growth habit, and attractive flower and foliage coloration.
The new Impatiens originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in February, 1998, of a proprietary Impatiens walleriana selection identified as 3065C-3, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary Impatiens walleriana selection identified as 370-1-3-4, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The cultivar Balolecher was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Elburn, Ill.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken at Elburn, Ill. since July, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Impatiens are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Balolecherxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Balolecherxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact, upright, outwardly spreading and mounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching growth habit.
3. Medium green-colored leaves.
4. Freely flowering habit.
5. Dark red-colored flowers that are fully double and positioned above the foliage.
Plants of the new Impatiens differ primarily from plants of the parent selections in flower color.
The new Impatiens can be compared to the Impatiens walleriana cultivar Salsa Red, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,606. However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in West Chicago, Ill., plants of the new Impatiens differed from plants of the cultivar Salsa Red in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Impatiens were shorter than plants of the cultivar Salsa Red.
2. Plants of the new Impatiens were more freely flowering than plants of the cultivar Salsa Red.
3. Flowers of plants of the new Impatiens had more petals than flowers of plants of the cultivar Salsa Red.
4. Flower color of plants of the new Impatiens was darker red than flower color of plants of the cultivar Salsa Red.